Endangered Namibian 'desert lion' shot dead - Conservationists

Endangered Namibian 'desert lion' shot dead - Conservationists
2016-06-14 10:16
News24 Correspondent


Windhoek - One of a group of five well-known desert-adapted lions in northwestern Namibia has been shot dead, likely by a disgruntled farmer, conservation groups say.

Harry died of a bullet to the chest on Sunday morning, the Desert Lion Conservation group said on its website.

Harry was one of the "Five Musketeers", a group of brothers who together roam the harsh remote areas of northwestern Namibia.

With thicker coats and an ability to survive for much longer periods without water than other lions, desert lions are a famed but endangered group. Farmers readily hunt and poison them because they prey on cattle and livestock. Last year there were reported to be only 150 desert lions left.


Two other "musketeers" - Adolf and Ben - were wounded in the weekend incident, said Desert Lion Conservation. A bullet appears to have passed through Ben's stomach.


Tense situation

Exactly what happened remains unclear.

Desert Lion Conservation - which regularly posts information on the group's movement -said it was a case of "human-lion conflict" that occurred after the lions moved past a cattle post around 12km from Tomakas village.

The group said there was a "tense situation" on the ground. Conservationists and local safari operators have been trying to help farmers to co-exist with the lions by working on strategies to deter the predators coming near the farmers' kraals and grazing areas.

Fire crackers and flashing lights are used if the lions are seen or known to be advancing (the "musketeers" are all collared). Sometimes those trying to protect the lions will help villagers construct cattle enclosures and even return livestock that have strayed and are in danger of being eaten.

News of Harry's death is spreading fast on social media.

Facebook group Namibian Lions Killed in HWC [Human Wildlife Conflict] posted: "Maybe now is a good time to accept that properly orchestrated HWC management is direly needed."

The Five Musketeers are the subject of a documentary called Vanishing Kings.
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SOURCE: http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/e...sert-lion-shot-dead-conservationists-20160614

Looks like the strategy is to give every animal a human name.

I'm sure hunters will be to blame, any one that owns a gun is a murder in today's world

Ironic that in Africa, the anti-s blame the person while in the U.S. they blame the gun.

Yup.....Obama will say it's the NRA's fault.............................

It's easy to survive without water, you just have to eat a cow.

Good luck deterring Harry, George, Paul, Ringo and Fred from eating the easy stuff.

This come to mind.

How come every animal in some type of environment is now considered endangered!

Also, just because some guy get a picture or a video doesn't make it famous.

LivingTheDream said:

How come every animal in some type of environment is now considered endangered!

Also, just because some guy get a picture or a video doesn't make it famous.

Click to expand...

As soon as they have a collar on them and someone watches them for a few days they are part of the family!

aside from stupidity,hypocrisy,can anybody tell me why anytime someone get killed by gun fire the call goes out for gun control?doesnt anybody remember the millions of people murdered,slaughtered,killed before guns were ever invented.this world was conquered many times over without guns.as long as there are two people on this earth their will be killings with or without guns.if you could eliminate every gun in existence killing would still go on.one way or another.Christ was not killed with an ak47 in a drive bye shooting,jt was a hammer and nails.and every corrupt,scumbag politician wanting votes will beat the dead horse of gun control.oh well,sorry for the rant.

Protecting those lions to Brickburns point is going to be very difficult. The domestic cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys are much easier to catch. If they want to protect the lions they need to drill wells far from the villages build ponds and introduce more local game to the area. Those lions will go to the water holes to catch their supper! Screw this collar crap. So you can track them and see exactly where they got themselves killed.....what good is that!

Charlie makes a good point.